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Why is it so important to apply process to raising capital? Traditionally, raising capital meant speaking to everyone you already knew and relying on meeting new people along the way and fostering new relationships from scratch. This can work for some but it’s an inherently inefficient way of working. In liquid strategies, everyone’s goal is […]

“I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.” – Blaise Pascal What’s the purpose of your marketing materials? Hint: it’s not actually to make a sale. I realize that “them are fightin’ words” given the amount of time spent carefully selecting the Cambria font over Book […]

Take a look at this equation: In asset trading, every security has a rate of return; the Jensen’s Measurement is an applied equation to determine the excess return of a security AKA alpha. Generating alpha is about diligent research, industry knowledge and professional intuition to produce numbers above and beyond the projected benchmarks your safe, low-risk-chasing competitors are […]

A quick pop quiz for asset managers: Can you see, at a glance, how close you are to reaching your target close? Are your LPs stored in an excel spreadsheet on someone’s computer? If your office building burned to the ground tomorrow, would your contact information disappear with it? Do you have to dig through […]

You’ve experienced this again and again. As a potential investor or when raising capital or even as an entrepreneur seeking funding. You’re at a seminar, networking, hustling, seeking to close a deal, on a sales call, in an email, leaning against a bar or in a more formal environment. You ask for something. Prematurely. The […]

The SEC’s recent ratification of the JOBS Act will decrease the importance of relationships in one’s quest to source capital. And recognize that I said, “decrease,” not eliminate. Freedom to market alternative investments is going to teach those who chase capital that they can do a lot of things to source capital themselves, and that […]

Congratulations to the SEC on joining us in the technologically social and progressive 21st century! July saw the overturn of an 80 year ban on soliciting private investments to the general public. Title II of Obama’s 2012 JOBS Act has been revamped to further boost how small businesses, entrepreneurs and startup companies and private funds […]

A number of weeks ago an individual I ran into made the comment that the financial sector lacked emotional intelligence as it relates to marketing and capital procurement. I thought this was an extremely astute comment. When you’re deeply entrenched in the private equity space, it’s tempting to glorify performance and think it’s the only […]

Asset managers who ignore social forums – whether LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, or Facebook – do so at their own peril. Here’s why: First and foremost, the nature of how people communicate is changing. Let me re-phrase that, has changed. There is no single overriding way in which people communicate any more. In the old days, people […]